Lamp-door construction



Oct. 26 1926.

. E; GODLEY LAMP noon CONSTRUCTION iled Oct. 5, 1925 which-- Patented Oct. 26, 1926.

siren STATES wasta e PATENT OFFICE.

cHAnLEs E. GODLEYL, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR To EnMnNns & JONES coa- PORATION', or DETROIT, MICHIGAN", A CORPORATION or new YORK.

' LAMP-DOOR oonsTaUoTIoN.

Application filed October 5, 1925. 7 Serial No. 60,645.

for the mouth of a lamp body.

Furthermore, my invention provides a lens front or door construction which will be particularly suitable for use inlamps in which the door front is permanently attached to a portion of a longitudinally split lamp body. l/Vith this. in mind, my invention provides a sheet metal lens ring construction for th1s purpose which will assist in alining the two body parts when assembled, and which also will center and alinc the reflector of the lamp with respect to the lens ring before the reflector is secured to the lens ring. Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in

Fig. 1 is a central, vertical and longitu dinal section taken through a lamp embodying my invention and employing a substantially elliptical "reflector.

Fig, 2 is an enlargement of the forward portion of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 but drawn on a smaller scale than the latter.

Fig. 4: is an enlargement of an upper portion of Fig. 2, showing the beveling of the outer edge of the radially extending part of the rear lens ring member.

Fig. 5 is a similarly enlarged section showing the beveling of the tube flange over whichthe inner edge of the forward lens ring member is spun.

In the illustrated embodiment, the for- "ward portion 1 of a substantially elliptical reflector is supported'by the lens-carrying front or door of the lamp and secured to the latter by screws2 to which access is afforded when the upper half 3 of the casing or body of the lamp is detached from the lower part 4 and when the rear reflector portion 5 is swung out of its normal position. This rear reflector portion is shown as supporting the socket forthe lamp 6 and as normally held in its operative position by a spring 7, after the general manner disclosed in my copending application No. 751,255, filed November 21, 1924, on a headlightconstructi'on. In thesaid copending application, I am showing the door of the lamp ascomprising a lens carriedby a lens ring made of acast-ing. In practice, the use of a casting for this purpose is objectionable for many reasons, including the considerable weight, the expense of the machining required (particularly in view of the irregular warping and shrinking of such castings) and the difliculties of securing a, good surface-coating of nickel or the like on the castings in case they have any blowholes or other defects.

' My present construction provides a sheet metal substitute for the casting, in which the two constituent parts can readily be formed with high accuracy by punch press operations and can be rigidly interlocked with each otherwi-thout requiring rivets, welding or other elements or operations for this purpose. With this'in mind, I form the lens ring of the door of two annular sheet metal members. Therea'r member has its radial section of thegeneralform of a right angle having one leg parallel to the axis of' the lamp sons to aflord a radially inner tubular portion 8 which desirably has a bore correspondingto the periphery of the lens 9 of thelamp, the said section having its other leg extending in a general direction radially outwardof the SEllCl axis.

The forwardmember 10 of the lens ring is desirably curved to follow the general longitudinal contour ofthe body or casing member ofthe lamp and has its radially inner and outer edges recurved so as to hook rearwardly over the corresponding edge portions of the inner lens r ng member. With this flange 11 and adapted to bear against a relatively thin rim portion 13 of the lens. Then I provide the outer edge of the front member 10 with an inwardly directed annular flange 14 disposed behind, the radially outer portion of the rear lens ring member, the latter desirably having an adjacent portion such as a'shoulder 15 engaging the rear face of the front member 10 so as to stiffen the frontal lens ring member when the said flanges 12 and 14 are spun respectively over the radially inner and outer edge portions of the rear lens ring member. To secure a smooth contour for the completed lamp, I preferably bevel the outer edge of the part 14 of the inner member from the frontthereof, as shown in Fig. 4, and likewise bevel the end of the flange 11 on the tube, as shown in Fig. 5. By doing this and thinning the edges of the front member 10 before these are spun overthe said beveled portions, I

can secure sharp edged corners which will make the joint between the lamp body and the casing inconspicuous, and which will also bring the inner edge of the forward lens ring member almost flush with the lens.

To afford a suitable support for the forward reflector portion 1, I desirably pro. vide this at its mouth with a tubular part 16 slidably fitted into the said tubular portion 8 of the rear lensring member and provided at its forward end with an inwardly directed annular flange 17 adapted to press a packing ring 18'against the said lens ring portion 13, when the reflector is attached to the lens ring. To eflect this attaching, I desirably provide the rear lens ring member with an annular portion 28 presenting a rear face radial of the axis of the lamp and disposed for engaging a corresponding radial annular portion 19 of the reflector through which the screws 2 extend into the said part 28. I also provide the rear lens ring member more'radially outward of the latter'with another radial annular portion 20 against which a corresponding portion 21 of the casing is adapted to bear, and provide the inner lens ring member intermediate of the parts 28 and 20 with a forwardly directed portion affording a tubular part 22 into which the semi-tubular forward end 23 of each of the two body portions 3 and 4c is normally telescoped, the lower of these body portions be ing secured to the lens ring by screws 24: extending throughthe part 21 of the lower body member and threaded into the said part 20 of the rear lens ring member.

With the parts thus constructed, both the angular section of the inner lens ring memher and the several bends formed in the radially extending part of this member. co-

operate in making the same unusually stiff, so that I can secure the needed rigiditywith a relatively light grade of metal. Likewise, the spinning of the edges of the front lens ring member over those of the rear member cooperates with the arched sectional formation of the front member in at fording a high degree of rigidity even when quite light metal'is employed for the same. Hence I can secure a strong and light lens front or door construction at a quite low cost. At the same time, by shaping the rear member of the lens ring so as to fit certain tubular portions of the reflector and of the casing parts, I insure the desired alining of the various lamp parts wlthout requlrlng adjustments of any kind. So also, by providing each of the casing parts adjacent to the periphery of the lens ring with a radia1 flange 25 suitably spaced rearwardly of the annular-shelf 21 on each of these casing parts, I can cause a tightening of the screws 24 to clamp the inturned flange 14 on the lens ring against the said flange 25, so that this clamping will cooperate with the interfitting of the said tubular portions of the rear lens ring member and the casing parts in aflordinga tight seal between the lens ring and the casing- However, whileI have illustrated and described my invention in an embodiment particularly suitable for use with a certain type of reflector and with, a longitudinally split lamp body, I do not wish to be limited to such a use of the same. Neither do I wish to be limited to the details of the construction and arrangement above described, asrmany changes might obviously be. made without departing either from the spirit of myinvention or from the appended claims.

. I claim as my invention 1. In a lamp, a casing having a frontal opening bordered by an inwardly directed flange; a lens ring comprising an annular rear member secured to. the said flange, the said member having inwardly and outward ly directed flanges respectively at its edges, a tubular portion behind its inwardly directed flange, and an annular frontal member provided at its edges respectively with antinner flangespun over the aforesaid in wardly directed flange and an outer flange spun over the aforesaid outwardly directed flange; a lenslaterally housed by the said tubular portion; and a reflector secured to the said rear member and clamping the lens against the said inner flange.

2. A lamp as per claim 1, in which the said rear member and the reflector have contiguous annular portions secured to each other and disposed radially outward of the .said tubular portion, and in which the reflector is provided with an annular part extending forwardly into the said tubular portion; a packingring disposed .between the said tubular portion and the lens, and fastening means extending through the said contiguous annular portions to secure the reflector to the said rear member, the fastening means serving also to clamp the lens abuts against the said outer flange and coand the packing ring between the said anoperates with the interfitting of the said 10 nular part and the said inner flange. tubular portions to ailord a seal between 3. A lamp as per. claim 1, in which the the casing and the lens ring.

said rear member and the casing have in- Signed at Detroit, Michigan, September tel-fitting tubular portions disposed adja- 24th, 1925.

cent to the said outer flange and in which the casing has an annular radial shelf which CHARLES E. GODLEY. 

